The Ladybug Patronus
by writeringoodfaith
Summary: HP/MLB AU: 'I'm alright,' Adrien said out loud. His bodyguard slumped with visible relief. Plagg announced his intentions with a yeowl and jumped into his lap - almost knocking Adrien back down to the ground. Bracing himself with one arm, he stroked Plagg's soft, black fur with the other. 'Thanks to that girl, and her ladybug patronus.' Picture credit: heidichou on deviantart!


**The Ladybug Patronus**

'Daddy,' Emma looked up at him with big, bluebell eyes. 'How did you know mummy was the one?'

Adrien laughed and patted her head as she snuggled into bed. Emma Agreste was five years old and a curious little cat. 'Well, my little kitten, it happened in Defence Against the Dark Arts.'

'At Hogwarts?' asked Emma, excitement shining in her eyes.

'Yes. At Hogwarts. But to tell you the whole story, I need to go back to when I lived in Paris, before I transferred to Hogwarts…'

* * *

It was his fourteenth birthday and his father had said he would be there for dinner this time. This year. He would be there. But he had just heard from Nathalie (his father didn't even have the time it seemed to send an owl himself) that his father had been held back at the Ministry again. A prisoner brought from Azkaban to be interrogated by the French Ministry of Magic and held captive by dementors had escaped, Nathalie had explained. Gabriel couldn't rest until the prisoner had been found.

Before his mother had passed away, Paris had been a place of joy. He had been born there, and though they moved to the UK before he could even talk, they visited often. The sights of the cobblestone roads, the Eiffel tower shining in the distance and the Tuileries gardens were part of his childhood as much as the English countryside. And the food! Nowhere else was bread not just a staple but an art form.

After the owl from Nathalie, he had snuck out through his window. He knew he'd get in trouble for it later, but he hadn't been caught so far and it was a mild summer night and he wanted to visit the bakery he used to visit with his mother. She always called it 'the best bakery in Paris!' and somehow eating food from there made him feel a little closer to her again. He scooped up Plagg - who let out a disapproving meowl at being picked up but who quieted when Adrien informed him of their destination of the best bakery in Paris. Plagg was fond of the cheese croissants there, after all.

Glancing at the time, Adrien hurried towards the bakery, Plagg following quickly behind him. The bakery would be closing soon.

As he turned a corner to take a shortcut through the park, Adrien felt himself shiver a bit. He slowed to a stop and Plagg made a figure eight through his legs. Then, Plagg stopped suddenly, arching his back and hissing into the distance. 'Plagg!' called out Adrien in dismay, rubbing his now cold arms. Plagg wasn't usually like this. He knelt down to soothe him and let out a sharp intake of breath as something terrible pressed on his heart. In his mind, he saw Nathalie, telling him in a hundred different ways that his father wasn't going to be there - he saw his father, looking at him down the tip of his nose, mouth pressed into a stern line of disapproval. Trying to shake his head from these thoughts, he heard Plagg let out a soft whimper and he looked up and noticed a dark hooded figure floating along in the path ahead of him. Its face was completely hidden by its hood and he heard it take a long rattling breath - almost as if the thing were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.

Adrien recognised what was floating towards him. A dementor. He had heard about it in class before, and they talked about the charm to repel it. He tried to recall the incantation that he studied over the summer but instead of the words - all he could see inside his mind was the last time he saw his mother. It was more than three years ago now - she'd been coughing a lot and hadn't been looking like she was doing so well and he remembered how weak she was, and how frantic his father was about looking for a cure. Adrien had come to her bedside to wish her goodnight and she smiled at him and tried to sit up, even though it looked like it hurt her. She reached her arms open for him and he embraced her. He pleaded, 'Mother, get better soon, promise me!' and tears had slid down his cheek. She stroked his back - he remembered how warm and comfortable that felt, for someone to hug him, for someone to love him and replied, 'Adrien, I promise you.' But she didn't keep her promise. She left him. And his father may not physically have left him but on some days Adrien thought he may as well have. Distantly, Adrien realised that tears were sliding down his face again as he slowly sank to the ground.

The dementor let out another slow breath and Adrien saw a gray, mottled hand peek out from underneath the robe, reaching towards his face - when a little light coming from behind him made the dementor pause. The little light seemed to clear Adrien's head and he remembered the words of the charm. He reached for his wand, 'Expecto,' Adrien mumbled slowly, the dementor recovering from the infliction of light and edging forward again, 'patro-' he trailed off, wand dropping to the floor, unable to complete the incantation.

'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' The clear, loud voice of a young woman echoed from behind him. A rush of bright light illuminated the scene before him. The light moved like it had a presence and flew past him, towards the dementor reaching for his face.

It let out a hiss and turned away. Adrien stared at the shifting light and realised it wasn't a single light at all - but hundreds of lights, maybe thousands - all emanating from tiny little ladybugs. The sight of the patronus, winking in the air as they chased the dementor away from Adrien was the last thing he remembered of the encounter with the dementor.

The next time he opened his eyes, his bodyguard was trying to shake him awake from lying on the park's floor. He grimaced and sat up, one hand clutching his head and the other to gesture his bodyguard to stop shaking him. 'I'm alright,' he said out loud. His bodyguard slumped with visible relief. Plagg announced his intentions with a yeowl and jumped into Adrien's lap - almost knocking him back down to the ground. Bracing himself with one arm, he stroked Plagg's soft, black fur with the other. 'Thanks to that girl, and her ladybug patronus.'

* * *

'Expecto Patronum!' yelled out Marinette. A couple of heads swivelled towards her at her shout but nothing appeared out of her wand.

'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' bellowed Marinette again. The radius of heads turning increased and this time Marinette hung her head in shame as almost the whole class witnessed only the tiniest puff of silvery smoke appear out of her wand and disappear.

Professor Bustier, Marinette's favourite teacher walked over to her desk and said, 'Marinette, yelling doesn't help. You have to think of a happy moment. Your most joyous memory - something that can give you strength when a dementor is trying to feed on your happiness.'

'I will try again.'

Professor Bustier nodded encouragingly.

A snort interrupted their conversation. Marinette looked to her left and noticed Chloe trying to smother giggles with Sabrina. 'What?' she demanded them.

'Just agreeing with the Professor. Yelling doesn't help. It doesn't help your spellcasting and it certainly doesn't help anyone's ears around here,' replied Chloe.

'Yeah!' echoed Sabrina. 'My ears hurt.'

Professor Bustier just sighed in response. Then she walked over to Sabrina and Chloe's desk. 'And how are your patronuses coming along, girls?'

'Uhh…' Chloe and Sabrina looked at each other.

But Marinette didn't notice, because she was too busy staring at the floor, trying to will it to physically open up and swallow her.

Alya nudged Marinette - interrupting her fixated staring into the floor, 'Girl, I believe in you. This is your best subject. You got this.'

'Adrien is here - I can't concentrate.' Marinette mumbled.

Alya turned around and sure enough, Marinette's favourite hufflepuff was sitting down at the front of the room, next to Nino (Alya's favourite hufflepuff - truth be told), face screwed up in concentration as he too tried to cast a patronus. The hufflepuffs weren't usually even in their class. Something had happened to the greenhouse when they were supposed to have herbology and so the hufflepuffs and ravenclaws were all distributed randomly into the other classes - these two hufflepuffs joining Defence Against the Dark Arts in Alya's only shared class with Marinette.

Alya sighed. Was it Marinette's good luck or bad luck that Adrien was moved to this class? Adrien was kind and she thought he'd be good for Marinette, though he and Marinette hadn't gotten off to the best start when he first transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons earlier that year. But since then, they had all become friends. Except she knew that Marinette wanted to be more than friends and in fact harboured feelings of secret love for him. Feelings that may or may not be unrequited. Under her prompting, Nino had investigated and told her Adrien was a bit smitten with a girl he had met in Paris last summer. Alya tried to get a name out of him, but Nino said Adrien just referred to her as "Ladybug." The day Marinette found out about Ladybug completely broke her heart. It took her weeks to recover from sniffling at the sight of her usual lucky charm.

'Ok, I guess it's my turn now anyway,' said Alya. Marinette smiled at her in relief. Alya closed her eyes, trying to summon her most positive memories. She thought of her family - cooking with her mum, playing with baby dragons with her dad when she visited him for work. She thought of her older sister, Nora and the twins. Then, she opened her eyes and she looked over at Nino. She thought of how cool he was, his love for music and his determination to educate everybody else's music taste. She thought of the time he asked her out to Hogsmeade and the butterflies in her stomach she felt. It was the most perfect day. Even though it was rainy and cold, with her hand in Nino's as they strolled along Hogsmeade's paved cobblestone streets, as he humoured her obsession with quills and notebooks at Flourish and Botts, as they had that ridiculous date at Madame Pudifoot's Tea Shop that he knew she would enjoy even though she was adamant she wouldn't, she'd never felt more warm inside. Concentrating on that feeling of warmth and happiness, Alya muttered aloud the words, 'Expecto Patronum.'

From the tip of her wand, silver vapour poured. She was so excited at the amount pouring out - she'd never done so well before! - she almost lost her concentration. She tightened her grip on her wand and refocused. Warmth. Nino's hand holding hers. Flourish and Botts. Nino's smile. As she concentrated, the vapour thickened and she started to make out a shape in the silver smoke. Two pointed ears, a snout and a long body with a bushy tail.

'It's a fox!' Marinette exclaimed.

Alya held the form for only a second longer before it collapsed and she with it - but into a puddle of excitement. 'YES!' shouted Alya.

'Well done!' cried out Professor Bustier. '10 points to Gryffindor for a talented feat of magic.'

Alya turned to Marinette, all excited, 'I know I only held it for a second, but it was a glorious second, Marinette.'

'I'm really proud, Alya! That was great!'

Alya grinned back at Marinette, 'Ok! Your turn!'

Marinette held both hands up and grinned sheepishly. 'Do I really need to have another go?'

'Come on, girl! I know you can. I know you've done it before!'

'Don't remind me,' Marinette cringed. 'Someone's life was in danger! You know that!'

'As if.'

Both heads swivelled around to glare at Chloe who seemed to be eavesdropping on their conversation again.

'Stay out of this Chloe,' threatened Alya.

'You can't expect me to just sit here while Marinette makes up lies about how great she is.'

'It isn't a lie!' exclaimed Marinette.

'You're just jealous of Marinette because she got made prefect this year and you didn't,' said Alya smugly.

Chloe gasped in response.

Sabrina gave them both a nasty glare. 'That was mean, Alya!'

'It was true,' muttered Alya underneath her breath.

Marinette stood up before the argument could escalate. 'Fine. I'm going to try and cast the spell again.'

'Cast it for the first time, you mean,' muttered Chloe.

Marinette drew a deep breath. She already second guessed herself a lot - she really didn't need Chloe latching onto her insecurity and tugging it down like an anchor. Facing the back of the classroom, she caught Adrien Agreste's eye. He smiled at her and mouthed, 'you can do it' across the room.

Marinette gathered her thoughts and thought back to the first and last time she successfully cast the spell. It was a more than a year ago now - she was visiting her grandparents in Paris and staying with them in their house above the bakery. Her owl, Tikki, was off in the night hunting and she was hurrying out for a quick evening trip to the store to buy more parchment to write to Alya before Tikki returned. She never made it to the store that night though. Truth be told, she didn't make it very far at all.

Not far from her grandparents' bakery was a park and she had stepped through to take a shortcut when a sudden chill in the air made her stop, filled with dread. She felt it before she saw it. It felt like the very warmth of her soul had been sucked out… like she could never ever be happy again. She looked up and saw a dark hooded figure, bending down towards someone.

Alarmed, she drew her wand and thought of her family, just across the road and yelled, 'Expecto patronum!' a thin jet of vapour, silvery and bright poured from her wand and the dementor took a step back.

It wasn't enough. She saw a glimpse of the dementor's victim and registered that it was a young man, maybe her age, with blonde hair and she saw him draw out his wand. A wizard!

But then he started to falter. His wand dropped to the floor with a clang and the dementor edged closer towards him again.

'No,' thought Marinette. Panic was in her heart as she tried to latch onto a happy thought. She thought of her mother and father. The joy in her father's eyes when she performed her first magic as a child. The indulging acceptance in her mother's. She remembered her first Hogwarts letter, confirming that she took after her dad's side, that she was indeed a witch. She remembered her sorting, the shock she felt at being sorted into slytherin, followed by her acceptance as she came to recognise her traits of ambition, cunning and resourcefulness were things to be proud of. And it was with Hogwarts in her heart that she yelled, 'EXPECTO PATRONUM' and watched in awe as the silvery vapour that poured from her wand solidified into a thousand tiny ladybugs and rushed towards the dementor.

She held the spell, until the temperature went back to normal, until the feeling of dread left her heart and she saw the boy whose soul did not belong to the dementor look back at her with piercing green eyes, until she collapsed. When she came to, she found herself being shaken by her dad - and the boy was gone.

As Marinette recalled the memory, so close to danger and trauma, so far away from the bright lights and the comforting voices of her peers in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, she realised that it really wasn't the fact that she yelled it the second time that made the difference. It was the strength, the specificity of her memory that helped.

She opened her eyes and smiled widely at Adrien who was still watching her from across the classroom. She brandished her wand and said, 'Expecto patronum.'

* * *

Adrien wasn't sure why he was staring at Marinette Dupain-Cheng during Defence Against the Dark Arts. He had overheard Alya mention that Marinette had performed the charm once before. And unlike Chloe, he believed her. Marinette was an excellent witch.

He wondered what kind of patronus she'd produce. Maybe something like a cat would suit her? Something that looked like Plagg - a black cat, something sleek and sensuous like a panther. And passionate.

What? Adrien's train of thought had taken a bit of a detour.

He'd looked up a lot about patronuses since that fateful day in Paris he was saved by the ladybug patronus. The size of one's patronus was not an indication of its strength. He read about a young wizard named Illyius whose tiny mouse patronus single-handedly held off an attack from a dementor army. And he himself had witnessed tiny little ladybugs fend off a dementor.

He recalled another fact: The form one's patronus took was also an embodiment of their innermost self. An innermost self that was unique - for no two patronuses were the same.

All he wanted to do was meet the girl that saved his soul. He wanted to thank her. Nino laughed at him for drawing ladybugs in the margins of his books but this more than a passing crush or infatuation. He owed her his life. And one day he would meet the girl again, and find a way to repay her.

He was in the middle of such thoughts when he noticed Marinette stand up and take a deep breath. He honestly had a lot of respect for his classmate, Marinette. She stood up for what was right, standing even against her own house sometimes. And her resourcefulness knew no bounds - she was always coming up with solutions for people, and could always be relied upon to turn to for reasonable advice in the case of an emergency. She was kind, considerate and creative. And he really loved getting to know her better and being her friend. He also loved making her smile - her smile put sunflowers to shame.

But Marinette looked nervous now. She picked up her wand from the table and when she made eye contact with him, Adrien quickly flashed her a thumbs up and mouthed, 'you can do it.'

His encouragement worked! She smiled at him, his favourite kind of smile of hers that involved her wrinkling her nose, like her whole face had to be part of the smile. He watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath before opening them and calling out confidently, 'Expecto patronum!'

Erupting out of her wand, hundreds, no thousands of bright lights shot through the classroom, eliciting a soft 'ahh' from those watching. As they flew past him, almost dancing as they moved, Adrien saw with amazement that they weren't merely lights at all - but ladybugs. A thousand ladybugs rushing around the classroom as Marinette grinned happily with her success.

'This is incredible!' exclaimed Professor Bustier. 'A corporeal patronus! Ladybugs! Thousands of them! Twenty points to Slytherin!'

Adrien heard a small cheer go out from some of the class, and would have joined them except he was too busy looking at Marinette with new eyes. He thought back to that day in Paris, that glimpse he had of the girl he called "Ladybug" and he filled in the details of her face in his memory. Dark hair, tied into two neat pigtails. Big bluebell eyes, framed in a delicate face that was kind. Pastel pink lips stretched into a smile like a ray of sunshine piercing the gloom of an overcast day.

One of the ladybugs separated from the swarm, landing weightlessly in his hair and it was as he looked from Marinette to the ladybug made of light in his hair that something settled in his heart like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle falling into place.

He stood up abruptly, almost knocking his chair to the ground as he rushed towards her. 'It was you!' he yelled, running towards her and throwing both his arms around her, engulfing her in an enthusiastic hug.

Marinette's mouth fell open a little in shock, her ladybugs fading as her attention diverted completely.

Adrien then picked up Marinette by the waist, twirling her around the front of the classroom. He declared, 'Ladybug! You're my Ladybug!' as he twirled her. He eventually put her down and took her wand hand in his, bowing down to kiss it with a flourish. 'Thank you for saving my life, Marinette.'

She went bright red in response, her mind whirling with her centre of gravity after Adrien spun her.

Someone (probably Kim to be honest) let out a wolf whistle when Adrien kissed her hand causing Professor Bustier to turn around to look at what was causing the commotion. Adrien Agreste was standing at the front of the classroom with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, holding her hand - her face a shade of red Professor Bustier hadn't seen since that Valentine's Day incident with the 'eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad' message.

Noticing the professor's attention on them and not wanting to get Marinette in any trouble, Adrien casually strolled back to his seat beside Nino, smiling like a cat who got the cream.

Marinette too made her way back to her seat, but her journey was a much less graceful affair. Limbs flailing about, she almost fell into her seat beside Alya.

As soon as Marinette was upright and seated, Alya turned to her, 'Girl, what happened?'

But Marinette's mouth only fell open in response, no sound coming out. Classic catatonic Marinette.

So Alya turned behind her to Nino, whispering, 'Not that I'm not happy for Marinette, but what was that?'

Nino glanced over at Adrien, who was looking dreamily at Marinette before bending forward, hand covering the side of his mouth and saying, 'My dude has a thing for ladybugs.'

'Ladybugs?!' repeated Chloe, who was listening in again and watched the whole scene unfold with her nose wrinkled in disgust, 'Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!'

* * *

'... and that's how I knew she was the one!' concluded Adrien with a flourish.

'YAY,' yelled out Emma Agreste throwing her arms into the air as she cheered. 'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' she yelled out, brandishing her toy wand at her brother Hugo's bed where he lay fast asleep. He rolled over in response, lost in his two year old dreams.

She then went on to mime ladybugs erupting out of her wand and flying around everywhere while Adrien laughed at her antics and caught her before she jumped off the bed.

'Shhhh,' Marinette poked her head into the nursery, a sleeping baby Louis cradled in her arms.

'Daddy just told me the best bed-time story about when he fell in love with you.'

'Just doing my fatherly duties,' added Adrien, with a smile.

Marinette winked at him in reply and gingerly placed a sleeping Louis into his cot.

'Mummy,' Emma turned to Marinette, big bluebell eyes and lower lip out in full force. 'Can you please show me the ladybugs?'

'My patronus?'

Emma nodded enthusiastically, blonde pigtails bobbing with her head movement.

Marinette smiled at her family, heart filled with love at the sight. Adrien reached out and took her hand to hold as he made room for her on Emma's bed. Marinette drew out her wand and closed her eyes, focusing only on how she felt at this exact moment, surrounded by the ones she loved most. She said the incantation softly, 'Expecto patronum', and Emma watched with quiet awe as a flurry of little glowing ladybugs emerged from her mother's wand. They flew around the room, some landing on Emma who giggled and gaped with amazement as her fingers passed through them.

As he watched the ladybug patronus fly around the nursery, Adrien felt like he a fourteen years old again, falling in love with Marinette again for the first time. He gazed adoringly at his wife and gently kissed her on the cheek.

Marinette then slowly let the charm dissipate and said to Emma, 'I'll teach you how to cast your own patronus one day, little bug.' She gave Emma a kiss on the cheek, standing up to tuck her into bed.

'Love you, little bug.'

'Love you too, Mama.'

'Love you, little lady.' Adrien pressed a kiss to Emma's forehead.

'Love you too, Papa.'

Marinette and Adrien shut the door to the nursery behind them. On their way through the house, Adrien picked Marinette up, carrying her bridal style into their bedroom. She laughed at his antics and he gently set her down on the bed. 'I love you, Marinette Agreste.' He continued, 'I've loved you since I was 14, before I even knew who you were.'

Marinette laughed in response, the freckles on her face dancing as she crinkled her nose to smile. 'I produce my best patronuses when I think of you.' He swelled up with pride with that remark and she continued, nuzzling into his chest as he flicked his wand to turn off the lights, 'I love you too, Adrien Agreste. I love you too.'


End file.
